Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-19
HOTEL HORROR.
The New Richmond Hotel, the St,
James Hall and Other Property at
Buffalo Destroyed by Fire.
The Disaster Attended by the Loss OF
Several Human Lives-NanR
Narrow Escapes.
The Money Loss PLACED at Two Hundred
and Ninety Thousand Dollars.
Heartrending Scenes.

did New Richmond hotel 81 the corner Of
Main and Eagle streets was totally de.
stroved by fire early this morning, tOgeth.
er with the 81. James Hall and other ad-
! iqcent property. The most distressful
part Of The disaster is the loss of several
| human lives. At this writing, &c g. m, it
is impossible to say jpst how many per
! sons are killed and Injured, but the mum
| Der is large The rapldiJy OF the fire cut
! tiDg of means f escape, led some per
sons to leap for life from the windows.
! Otaers got down the fire escapes or on
! the ladders raised by the fire department.
| The shrieks and cries of the poor people
! in the upper stories of the burning struc-
ture We're heartrending. One man, mad
with terror, leGped from third story win
! dow and was picked up from the stone
sidewalk on Main street a mangled and
bleeding corpse. Several who succeeded
in making their escape were badly jured
and burned and some Of them Will proba-
bly, die. Others more fortunate escaped
with slight Injuries. Many Of the
wounded were taken to the hospitals.
Among these WAS 7. II. Bryant, a New
York travelling man, burned about the
feet and hands; Hon. NJ. w. Barse Of
Clean, terribly burned about the hands
and wrists.
Robert Stafford, senior proprietor Of
the hotel, with MS wife occupied rooms
on the second floor and had narrow es-
cape Terror OVercame everybody and
even those who escaped in safety were in
many cases Frustrated by their awful
experiences.
At9 O'Clock the estimate of the loss Of
} 4 ii
8 measure mere guess work. There were
l2j persons in the hotel, seventy Of whom
were transient guests, eight bOarders and
the remainder pOrters, Eell-hOys and fam
lies Of the prOpriet0rs and clerks. Tween
! ty-two OF these were rescued from
the windows by fremen. Twenty
| two are at the hospitals and large num-
Der made their escape by other means
/ The origin Of the fire is not yet known.
| William Il. Airport, night clerk, says "The
| fire started in the cloak room, under the
main stairway, at sos O'Clock. There
was nobody up but myself and Joe, the
night porter, and Plummer, the bell boy.
pulled all four fire alarms on the differ
/ ext floors and the people came flying
down stairs in tn II night clothes. The
/ ire followed the elevator, and inside of
! five minutes it reached the top floor. l
rushed out Of doors after doing all
could"
! The bell boy, Piummer, said: 81 was
busting the reading room when | heard
! the shout of fire and saw flames coming
| up the stairway from the basement. Mr..
| Airport and I turned on the hose under
| the main stairway. We Strengthened the
those cut and turned the valve, but the
water would not run. Then we gave the
alarm. The watchm3n and l got planks
and broke in the Eagle street entrance to
the hotel. Then we got a plank
under the fire escape on Eagle street, and
helped the people down. l think there
were about eighty-foUr guests in the
house"
The spread of the flames is said to have
been frightful in its rapldity. The eleya-
tor shaft served as fue for the flames,
and they rushed to the top floor in very
! few moments. As the guests were reused
and in terror saw the exits cut off they
/ TUNED TO the windows. They could be
4seen in their night clothes, standing ont
Clea- and vivid before the lurid back
ground OF the flames. Their screams
were horrible TO hear. They could be
heard for blocks. The flames spread to
! the southeast side of the hotel first.
! Tae fremen did noble work, and confined
/ the ire To the three buildings named.
I Tae work Ct rescue had many exciting
J incidents. The telegraph wires were as
usual in the way Of the ladder brigade,
and mUCa vd!UA.l2 time was lost
IN getting the ladders past them.
Among The guests in the hotel
were about twenty insurance
EaGents who mad come OD to adjust the
losses by TIE great Ire q NIile., Greiner
& Co.'S and az tie Courier office on Tues
day.
Perhaps the most thrilling escape OF
any as that Of Pres Whitaker, stepSon
of Proprietor Stafford. He TOomed in the
fifth story, and when aroused he stepped
to the window and looked down for few
seconds. Then he deliberately dressed,
and, emerging from the window, stood
on the stone Gaping above the window
beneath. From this Gaping he slipped
to the next one along the front OF the
building, and proceeded in this manner
10 Hayes truck ladder at the extremity
of the front. The nerve and GOODNESS dis
played was remarkable.
William II. Airport, Ei21t clerk, states
that he was sitting IN the Office at 8 40
O'Clock when he saw e reflection On the
floor. Turning around he discovered 6
blaze in the Cloak room, directly under
the stairway on the main floor. The flames
st once darted up the elevator shaft with
tremendous force, aud in an incredibly
short time the interior of the hotel was
filed with smoke and flames. Then ter
rible scenes began. The second and
third alarms brought the entire fire de-
psrtment to the scene, but it was impos-
sole to save any portion Of the structure.
The ire had reached the roof in less than
five minutes after it was discovered. 1t
soon reached and Quilted the ST. james
Hall, occupied as BpnnelI's Museum, and
TiVoli Hall, adjoining and fronting on
Washington street. The fire, which was
under control by o'clock, was confined
to the Richmond house and the museum
property, together with the saloon OF
James Creighton and the cigar store of J.
G. PalRcio on the Main street side The
Main street stores of the Richmond
hotel were occupied by UIbrich & Kings
ley, booksellers and stationers; Peter
Paul & Bros, in the same line of bust
ness, and Fuller & Townsend, proprietors
of the Boston clothing store. The stocks
in these stores were wholly destroyed,
entailing heavy losses. As usual the fire.
men were hampered terribly by the mass